My fostex died can you help me go pc recording?

L

liamo

New member
Hey all, i toyed with the idea before christmas but money was short and now my fostex(4track tape recorder) has at the end of a long and faithful service given up the ghost so as to speak, sob sob. anyway, I do have a pc (2.4ghtz amd - 512mb pc3500 - 80gb hdd-48-24-48cdrw) with is hooked up to a rather lush 400watt stereo power amp with good quality speakers. now basically all i want to do is record a few albumns (have mics and one tube preamp) of folk/rock yadda yadda. thing is i dont know what to get along the lines of a sound card and do i really nead a mixer? cant i mix on the pc and then mix that on to master left and right and use my pc cd burner?? so if any one could help me out i'd really appreciate it- also sorry for long post but i figure more info i give you the easier it is for you to give me advice-
very much appreciated
liamo

1)What is your budget?
about 350-450$/€

2)What are you trying to accomplish?
would like to record a few of my own albumns here at home

3)What level of quality are you seeking?
well thtats a tough one as i know it ties in with the budget thing and more wonga usuually will get you a better sound so as good as possible in the circumstances i figure is the answer to that.

4)What kind of music are you creating?
well folk/rocklues sorta thing(you know how it is) not metal and not punk and not classical (best i can explain)

5)How many inputs / outputs do you need?
I'll be playing everything on my own so i dont need too many, however i would like the comfort of 4 just in case.

6)what equipment do you have already?
Pc- mics- tube preamp- tube bass amp 4*10 cab - tube guitar amp two 2*12 cabs martin semi acoustic. good stereo preamp for use as monitor.
 
If you have a full duplex soundcard in your computer already, alls you need is recording software. At the low end, something like n-Track is about $30 or so, at the other end of the scale is stuff like Sonar, Vegas, Q Base, etc. You can get started with that and decide if the quality is good enough to suite your needs. You can upgrade from there.
 
sorry should of said - mobo is a7n8deluxe which has the soundstorm though i imagine even a cheap dedicated rec/mix/mast soundcard would blow that away yes/no??
cheers
liamo
 
Even a crappy soundcard would give much better recording than a cassette based porta studio. Like I said, you'd have to give it a try, listen to the results and decide if it's good enough for your purposes. WARNING! This will inveriably send you down the endless road of gear lust which has no end. Run away now. You have been warned.
 
oh i so here what you're saying- i caught it when i bought my first guitar then amps, tubes pc gear camera gear(not digital) - we should found some sort of support group for others infected with this open wallet surgery virus!!
 
WARNING! This will inveriably send you down the endless road of gear lust which has no end. Run away now. You have been warned.
Click to expand...
Heed this warning, I sure wish I did.
we should found some sort of support group for others infected with this open wallet surgery virus!!
Click to expand...

See Below
http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57845&highlight=gearaholic

To answer your question at the present moment no, you dont need a mixer, the mixer of your audio application will work just fine for what you are trying to do.

I just purchased a Delta 44 for about $240 (a sound card) that has a breakout box with 4 inputs and 4 outputs... I bought a bunch of crap just to have knobs and blinky things and this is the item that made the most difference in the quality of my recordings... Whats comming out actually sounds like went in.

If necessary you can record as is right now by hooking up a cable from the stereo out of your fostex (assuming it still plays back) to the line in of your soundcard (onboard sound?) and you can record right to the windows sound mixer.. The quality will suck though.
 
download some demos and see how you like them. I was in the same situation you are, and 6 months later I record everyhing on cubase sx. On the cheap end there's Cool Edit Pro, N tracks - I hated cakewalk but you can checkout the sonar 2.0 demo. I hated it but people swear by it. If your on a P.C stay away from pro tools and logic. It's a little more expensive, but IMO Cubase sx is the best bang for your buck on a P.C. It's more than your budget, but after you try all the demos, you might want to go ahead and spend the extra cash. Vegas video is a neat little app as well. Try the demos, then decide how much you want to spend. Invest in a decent sound card. I reccomend the Echo Mia. It's relativey inexpensive, and great quality. DIgital in and out, anolog - 2in 2out. Should be fine for what your doing. Are you running xp?
 
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